Beastie Boys rapper's will bars ad use of his work
NEW YORK (AP) - The Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch rapped that he wouldn't "sell my songs for no TV ad." His will shows he wanted to make sure that held true after his death, too.
"In no event may my image or name or any music or any artistic property created by me be used for advertising purposes," says the will, filed this week in a Manhattan court. Yauch, known for his good nature as well as his raspy voice in one of hip-hop's groundbreaking acts, died of cancer in May. He was 47.
Also known as MCA, Yauch was a founding member of the Beastie Boys, a group that helped hip-hop gain mainstream attention in the 1980s. As white guys from Brooklyn in a genre with few credible white performers at the time, they emerged as prankster pioneers and scored such hits as "Brass Monkey," ''No Sleep Till Brooklyn" and "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" They had four No. 1 albums and sold more than 40 million records.
It's not clear whether the provision in Yauch's will, first reported by Rolling Stone's website, covers all the Beastie Boys' output. His lawyer and the group's spokesman declined to comment Friday.
But the Beastie Boys have signaled that they are keeping a tight rein on commercial use of their work.
The surviving members, Michael "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, and Yauch's widow, Dechen Wangdu Yauch, sued the makers of Monster energy drink Wednesday over what the Beastie Boys say was an unauthorized, 23-minute medley of their music in a promotional video.
A representative for Corona, Calif.-based Monster Energy Co. didn't immediately return a call Friday.
As record sales have declined in the digital age, advertising has become an attractive outlet for many artists - and a source of debate among fans about the line between good business and selling out.
Some artists have openly criticized the practice. Grammy Award-winning singer Tom Waits has sued advertisers, ad agencies and his former record label over commercials that used his songs or featured people with similar voices singing them.
"Artists who take money for ads poison and pervert their songs. It reduces them to the level of a jingle," Waits wrote in a 2002 letter in The Nation magazine. He was responding to a piece earlier that year by The Doors' drummer, John Densmore, about turning down lucrative offers in the early 2000s for use of such songs as "Break On Through" and "When the Music's Over." Doors songs had been in commercials in the 1960s and '70s.
Levon Helm, the drummer and a singer for the The Band, fought an ad agency in court for years over the use of the rockers' "The Weight" in a cellphone commercial. He said he hadn't authorized it and called it "a complete, damn sellout of The Band."
An appeals court ruled against him in March. Helm died of throat cancer in April.
Yauch repeatedly made clear how he felt about allowing songs to be used in commercials.
"I might stick around or I might be a fad / But I won't sell my songs for no TV ad," he rapped in 1998's "Putting Shame In Your Game." A line in 2004's "Triple Trouble" says he "ain't selling out to advertisers."
Yauch stopped performing in public in 2009, when he was diagnosed with a cancerous salivary gland.
His will leaves his roughly $6 million estate to his widow and their 13-year-old daughter, Tenzin Losel Yauch.
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(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
8/10/2012 9:41:05 PM (GMT -7:00)
"In no event may my image or name or any music or any artistic property created by me be used for advertising purposes," says the will, filed this week in a Manhattan court. Yauch, known for his good nature as well as his raspy voice in one of hip-hop's groundbreaking acts, died of cancer in May. He was 47.
Also known as MCA, Yauch was a founding member of the Beastie Boys, a group that helped hip-hop gain mainstream attention in the 1980s. As white guys from Brooklyn in a genre with few credible white performers at the time, they emerged as prankster pioneers and scored such hits as "Brass Monkey," ''No Sleep Till Brooklyn" and "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" They had four No. 1 albums and sold more than 40 million records.
It's not clear whether the provision in Yauch's will, first reported by Rolling Stone's website, covers all the Beastie Boys' output. His lawyer and the group's spokesman declined to comment Friday.
But the Beastie Boys have signaled that they are keeping a tight rein on commercial use of their work.
The surviving members, Michael "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, and Yauch's widow, Dechen Wangdu Yauch, sued the makers of Monster energy drink Wednesday over what the Beastie Boys say was an unauthorized, 23-minute medley of their music in a promotional video.
A representative for Corona, Calif.-based Monster Energy Co. didn't immediately return a call Friday.
As record sales have declined in the digital age, advertising has become an attractive outlet for many artists - and a source of debate among fans about the line between good business and selling out.
Some artists have openly criticized the practice. Grammy Award-winning singer Tom Waits has sued advertisers, ad agencies and his former record label over commercials that used his songs or featured people with similar voices singing them.
"Artists who take money for ads poison and pervert their songs. It reduces them to the level of a jingle," Waits wrote in a 2002 letter in The Nation magazine. He was responding to a piece earlier that year by The Doors' drummer, John Densmore, about turning down lucrative offers in the early 2000s for use of such songs as "Break On Through" and "When the Music's Over." Doors songs had been in commercials in the 1960s and '70s.
Levon Helm, the drummer and a singer for the The Band, fought an ad agency in court for years over the use of the rockers' "The Weight" in a cellphone commercial. He said he hadn't authorized it and called it "a complete, damn sellout of The Band."
An appeals court ruled against him in March. Helm died of throat cancer in April.
Yauch repeatedly made clear how he felt about allowing songs to be used in commercials.
"I might stick around or I might be a fad / But I won't sell my songs for no TV ad," he rapped in 1998's "Putting Shame In Your Game." A line in 2004's "Triple Trouble" says he "ain't selling out to advertisers."
Yauch stopped performing in public in 2009, when he was diagnosed with a cancerous salivary gland.
His will leaves his roughly $6 million estate to his widow and their 13-year-old daughter, Tenzin Losel Yauch.
___
Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
8/10/2012 9:41:05 PM (GMT -7:00)
After all those years he only left behind 6 million? Little boys like Bieber are already worth a 100 million. Pretty much all the music over the last decade and dare I saw two - sucks! It's rare to find a good singer, band etc that isn't made up by record labels like Lord Gaga. I think Adam was a true artist and respected the work too much to dismiss it in the way of a TV AD - good for him!!!!!
 "Beastie Boys rappers will bars ad use of his work".  I haven't read the article yet because I'm still trying to make sense of that headline. WTH?
 @Shelly Sometimes I wonder if these "journalists" passed 4th grade English! I couldn't figure it out either.
 @Shelly A very poorly arranged headline. How about "Will of Beastie Boys rapper bars ad use of his work?"  Or better yet, "Will prevents ad use of Beastie Boys rappers work."
 @Shelly Whoops - "rapper's." I wish we had editing on this new forum.
I still can't believe they got inducted in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. A rap group? Seriously?
 @Zoso They belong in there more than many others that have been inducted.  They belong in there more than Madonna does. Â
 @KRM66 Yeah, I think I'm really gonna have to agree with you on that one. ;)
 @Zoso A highly influential group that had some pretty amazing instrumentals with traditional instruments like strings and brass on their albums. It wasn't all "Fight for your right to party", man.
 @WWRJD @Kodiak @doubleoevan For the record, I have followed the history of a lot of artists pretty closely, and I can definitely tell you there are some MUCH bigger acts even before them that had bigger influences than them who are STILL not inducted. And not to mention, if you knew anything about the panel who actually chooses who get's inducted, that sure would tell an interesting story. Trust me, there are artists who are inducted that I am definitely not a fan of, but I understand the influence, and there are artists who I am a fan of and know that will never be inducted! My opinions of artists such as Beastie Boys have absolutely nothing to do with it! Trust me, I can go on and break all this down, but I'm not gonna waste my time with an essay here on KOMO.
 @Kodiak I didn't say ones that could have been bigger, there were bands that WERE bigger and ones that were better and more influencial.
@Zoso Just because other bands could have been bigger doesn't make them better. Look I like all types of music, but Beastie Boys most certainly earned their way into the rock and roll hall of fame. So I guess you and I will have to agree to disagree.Â
@Zoso They were a great and they worked hard. Just because you don't like or didn't listen to their music doesn't mean they weren't good. I still listen to them at least once a week.Â
 @Zoso Just because you don't like them, doesn't mean they don't deserve to be in the hall of fame.  They were pioneers in their genre and were relevant for 30 years.  And not everyone in the Hall is pure rock and roll.
Now that is some awesome 'thinking ahead!' Â I had to read the headline a couple times, but I'm glad he protected his work.
 @Doxie I hope it stands in court and they prevail against all comers. I think it is up to the artists what happens with their music (or the rights holders), and pilfering music to sell products against their will is pretty low.